Beeville will continue to make its mark on the film community by participating in the fourth annual Corpus Christi 7-Day Film Project.

The project, which will take place July 7-14, will consist of teams writing, directing, shooting and editing an eight-minute film in that week. Those late to return their finished products will be disqualified.

Not only do competitors have to create their film in a short amount of time, but they also must include a line given to them at July 7’s kickoff party and usage of a prop given to them at that same time.

Paul Gonzales, writer, producer and director of the recently debuted local film “Scum,” will be participating this year for the second time. His first experience with the project was in 2008.

The prop for that year’s project was a bag of tortillas. Gonzales’ team had an old woman choke on a tortilla. Another team used a tortilla as a mask.

Gonzales said that he doesn’t like to plan too much of the film ahead of time because not knowing what they are going to be given to use is part of the fun.

“I always like to do things I haven’t done before,” he said.

This year, Gonzales’ team, called the Beeville Film Society, will include Albert Salazar and Alex Cervantes. The team will hold a casting call Wednesday, June 30, at Paul’s Print Shop from 2 to 5:30 p.m.

In the spirit of trying something new, Gonzales wants to make a Spanish language film for this year’s Project. He is mostly looking for Spanish speaking actors, but the casting call is open to anyone interested in acting or being part of the crew.

After all films are turned in on July 14, a screening of all the entered films will be held in August at the House of Rock in Corpus Christi.

“It’s cool to see how other people use the prop and the line and to talk to the other filmmakers,” said Gonzales. “Last time, I was really surprised by how much good work there was. Most of these people don’t make films all the time. They wait for this event every year.”

In 2008, Gonzales’ team won one of the many awards. Their prize was another bag of tortillas with a note saying what they had won. Gonzales could not remember the specific award name.

Gonzales added that people who may be interested in filmmaking but have little or no experience can learn quite a bit about it from watching these films.

The Corpus Christi 7-Day Film Project continues to grow each year. Last year, 36 teams participated. This year, that number is estimated to be around 50.

As for Gonzales, he is not taking a break to revel in the success of “Scum.” He is already writing his next film, which he said will be very different.

“It won’t be a horror movie,” Gonzales said.

Gonzales also would like to create a database with names and pictures of local people interested in being involved in films. This would be an efficient way to let potential actors and crew members know of upcoming projects.

For more information about becoming involved in the Project through the Beeville Film Society, contact Gonzales at 597-4739.

More information about the Corpus Christi 7-Day Film Project can be found at www.corpuschristifilmsociety.com/cc7dhome.

Sarah Taylor is a reporter at the Bee-Picayune and can be reached at 358-2550, ext. 122, or sarah@mysoutex.com.